Recently we touched on how the emergence of connected lighting is opening new opportunities for manufacturers and could for distributors. The reason for “could” is that the opportunity potentially can be much more than selling fixtures. It could explode into an array of services as the “connected” environment generates an ecosystem. As you may recall, as an “off the wall” thought we theorized that Google could buy Acuity (or for that matter Apple, Microsoft or others tech companies could) as data could become more important that lighting fixtures.

Our posting generated a conversation with Chris Cloutier from D+R International. D+R works with governments, businesses, trade groups, and efficiency program sponsors to move residential and commercial consumers toward greater energy efficiency. He shared the following thoughts:

“Facebook is free. A company with a US$300 billion market cap and an estimated 1.5 billion users worldwide provides its services for free.

Google is free. The most valuable company in the world provides answers for more than 100 billion searches a month for free.

Not too long ago this would have been inconceivable! How can a company be successful without charging for its services? The answer is simple: data. These companies collect and monetize vast amounts of data.

Will lighting follow the same path?

Two emerging trends suggest that data will be a much more important part of shaping and understanding the lighting business: IoT and PoE.

We have all heard about the Internet of Things (IoT) and the speculation that Google will gobble up a lighting company like it bought Nest. A steady stream of articles and announcements about the increasing role of lighting in the IoT boil it down to the simple reason that humans need light. Where you have humans, you have light. Where you have humans, you also have data that can be monetized – especially if those humans are carrying connected smart phones.

At a recent industry meeting, a rep from a major tech company said, “Cost [of connected lighting] won’t be a barrier. We aren’t getting into this to provide light; we are providing light to collect data.”

This is a fundamental and important shift.

With Philips’ recent installation of a controlled, Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting system at Clemson University, the race is on. PoE installation is said to be easier (plug-and-play), cheaper (no electrician, just use the existing Ethernet cable), and safer (lower voltage) than conventional lighting systems. PoE is less expensive to operate, and it provides greater controllability of the lights. While there is still much to demonstrate about PoE, it’s clear that it is here today and will be bigger tomorrow.

The market implications of this shift to lighting systems that are easier to install and cheaper to upgrade/replace, provide great controllability, and collect data are enormous. The best way to understand them is by looking not at the lighting business we know, but at the tech industry.

The tech industry wants the data that these systems can generate: traffic patterns, occupancy rates, customer movement inside a store and how long they stay, busy times, slow times, Fitbit wearers, Facebook Messenger users — the combination of data gathering, connected lighting systems, and a population carrying smart phones that can communicate with these systems creates a motherlode of data.

Cost is one of the biggest barriers to adoption of connected LED lighting, but the tech industry has demonstrated repeatedly that it will subsidize hardware and service to get data.

What are the implications of a business model that lowers the cost of lighting and simplifies lighting installation and replacement, but shifts lighting from a product to a data-collection service for a distributor? A lighting designer? An electrician?

While these and many other questions remain unanswered, using the tech industry as a guide suggests that the change that IoT and PoE will bring will be disruptive to all elements of the lighting market.

And I didn’t even mention LiFi.”

Chris Cloutier is a VP at D+R who has been working in the LED industry for the past four years. For more than 30 years, D+R has guided its clients in making informed decisions about energy use and efficiency by integrating proven expertise, analytics, methodologies, and tools.

And if you think Chris is crazy, check out this article titled “These companies are mining the world’s data by selling street lights and farm drones.“

So, data becomes king. Does equipment get subsidized like it did originally for cellphones? If that happens, how does it change the distributor role (and compensation)?

Is your staff trained to engage in these advanced lighting conversations, or do you need to outsource them to a supplier (and which one)? And if you outsource to the supplier, who may be a lighting agent, do you lose control? Lose margin? Will the supplier potentially go direct (or through a different source) and does the customer question your value? Just food for thought.

Have you been exposed to PoE? If not, whom are your suppliers selling PoE through? Consider the Philips/Clemson scenario. Was a distributor involved? How? Why? What could other Philips distributors learn from this case study?)

The reality is that not all lighting would go this way, but does lighting enable the reality of the smart home? How does Chris’ scenario play out for large commercial facilities that can generate significant energy savings for utilities? Or if it is integrated into the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) where equipment is a bigger energy user? Of think of how retail environments may change through the data capture?

(I know, and then think of privacy issues!)

While this may not impact you today, longer term elements of this will. How can you increase your lighting acumen?

Have you been involved in a connected lighting project or know of one in your marketplace? How were you involved?

David Gordon is President of Channel Marketing Group. Channel Marketing Group develops market share and growth strategies for manufacturers and distributors and develops market research. CMG’s specialty is the electrical industry. He also authors an electrical industry blog, www.electricaltrends.com. He can be reached at 919-488-8635 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

As a marketing consultant, writer, and trainer, I recognized the challenges and barriers that David was writing about. We agree on many issues (and their causes) facing electrical distributors and marketers. But I also hear from marketing people all the time that the C-Suite is hindering their efforts which, in turn, hinders the company’s growth.

On October 29-31, 2018, the AD Electrical North American Meeting drew over 1,000 attendees. This event attracted 151 first time attendees and representatives from over 362 companies in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Attendees benefited from a variety of agenda topics, including: Network Meetings, Emerging Leaders Session, and Country-specific Business Meetings. New to this year’s agenda was a SPA Optimization Workshop led by industry veteran Mo Barsema. In addition, members and suppliers also attended a panel discussion on managing and measuring your digital success.

People with low levels of coping skills are at higher risk for mental health issues and mental illness than those with high levels. Gaps in coping skills inhibit the ability to solve problems and to make healthy and effective decisions.

To examine how coping skills can predict health outcomes, Dr. Bill Howatt facilitated a doctoral research study that examined the question: “What role does an individual’s coping skills have in predicting psychological and physical health outcomes?” The study found that coping skills mattered and were, in fact, a moderator that partially explains why some individuals had better physical and psychological health outcomes than others. The study concluded that when combining a person’s coping skills with their perceived stress levels, coping skills were significant in predicting which employees were at more or less risk for health issues.

Electro-Federation Canada (EFC)’s Marketing Awards program recognizes member organizations that demonstrate marketing excellence and innovation within the Canadian electrical manufacturing and distribution industry. Winners of this year’s awards were recognized at EFC’s 8th Annual Future Forum, held earlier this month. (Shown in photo: EFC President and CEO Carole McGlogan with representatives from Bartle & Gibson, winners of the Integrated Marketing Award — distributor under $50 million.)Electro-Federation Canada (EFC)’s Marketing Awards program recognizes member organizations that demonstrate marketing excellence...

Leaders and innovators from business, government and the education sector gathered for this ABB premier collaboration event. More than 11,000 delegates attended the bi-annual ABB Customer World Houston 2019 from March 4 to 7 in Houston, Texas. ABB’s latest pioneering technologies were displayed over 150,000 sq ft of a colourful, buzzy display of futuristic conveyor belts and robots, an ABB Formula E Generation 2 car, and much more groundbreaking technology. ACW attendees also took part in keynote sessions and seminars focused on realizing the tremendous productivity and performance improvements that digitalization delivers for companies of any size and from any industry.

In his keynote address at the event, ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer explained how ABB was shaping its business for leadership in digital industries to support its customers in a time of unprecedented technological change and digitalization. He was joined by Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Antonio Neri.

Cree, Inc. has signed an agreement to sell its Lighting Products business unit, which includes the LED lighting fixtures, lamps and corporate lighting solutions business for commercial, industrial and consumer applications, to Ideal Industries, Inc. for approximately US$310 million before tax impacts, including up-front and contingent consideration and the assumption of certain liabilities. Cree expects to receive an initial cash payment of US$225 million, subject to purchase price adjustments, and has the potential to receive a targeted earn-out payment of approximately US$85 million based on an adjusted EBITDA metric for Cree Lighting over a 12-month period beginning two years after the transaction closes.

The agreement continues Cree’s strategy, announced in February 2018, to create a more focused, powerhouse semiconductor company, providing growth capital for Wolfspeed, its core Power and RF business, and equips Cree with additional resources to expand its semiconductor operations. The deal also enables Cree Lighting to gain additional global focus, channel support and investment as it becomes a growth engine for the IDEAL team.

On a regular basis, our publications profile members of our industry through their responses to a Q&A. It’s a way of recognizing industry movers and shakers, and helping our readers get to know them better.

Recently we launched an initiative with Electro-Federation Canada's Young Professionals Network to include profiles of up-and-coming leaders. We provided the list of questions below to Taylor Gerrie, Automation Account Specialist at Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd. in Burlington, Ontario. Here are Taylor’s responses.

First and foremost, sitting down with Susan Uthayakumar feels more like sitting down and conversing with a friend than conducting an interview with the Canadian president of one of the world’s largest electrical manufacturers. Of course, she exudes the confidence and knowledge her position demands, but equally identifiable are an open and engaging nature.

In a recent sit-down, we learned a little about Susan’s history and what drives her to succeed.

To begin, Susan was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Canada at a young age. She went to high school in Canada and attended the University of Waterloo where she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Upon completing university Susan began her working career with Deloitte, which she describes as a great starting point as she was surrounded by highly driven and intelligent individuals. She welcomed being in a position that was demanding and helped nurture a strong work ethic. Her work with Deloitte also instilled a great interest in acquisitions, which would serve her well as her career unfolded.

We often learn how to look forward by first looking back, or at the very least we realize that despite our best efforts we have not truly advanced quite so much as we had thought. Sure, technology is rapidly advancing. That’s beyond question. But what about our approach to selling it? Have we changed that much in the last 20, 40, 60 years? Inevitably there have been advances and changes in marketing, the Internet causing the biggest shift, but many of the concerns and directives that have driven the distribution and marketing of industrial electrical products remain, or at least planted the roots of the concerns of manufacturers and distributors today.

To gain perspective of the perceptions and directions of electrical product distribution in 1960, we turn to Edwin H. Lewis. In 1960 Lewis published “The Distribution of Industrial Electrical Products” in the Journal of Marketing.

To fully define electrical product distribution in 1960, Lewis broke his study into several categories. We will follow his direction and provide his insights on the industry in each of the categories he identified.

The best memory I keep from CEDA is the way that they accepted me when I came into the business. The welcome they gave to me, all of them men. (In those days there were not many women in business.) This welcome I will always remember. CEDA has played a very important role in my success.

One year our conference was in Hamilton, Ontario. Mr. Caouillette, our speaker, got lost and instead of going to Hamilton went to Toronto. I think that that was the longest cocktail hour that CEDA ever had… waiting for him to arrive. Certainly that night the head table and everyone were in good spirits.

Looking BackIn the 1930s to 1940s, CEDA’s Western Canada membership was very stable with old line independent companies like Horsman, Ashdowns, Brettell, Marshall Wells, Electrical Supplies Ltd., etc.

Small electrical distributors just were not acceptable for membership as they did not carry the main-line manufacturers’ goods, publish a wiring device catalogue, or employ four to five salesmen as CEDA requested.

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